Dodi Fayed

Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em Fayed (/faɪˈɛd/; Arabic: عماد الدين محمد عبد المنعم الفايد‎ [ʕaˈmæːd ɪdˈdiːn muˈħæmmæd ʕæbdelˈmenʕem fæːjed], 15 April 1955 – 31 August 1997), better known as Dodi Fayed (Arabic: دودي الفايد‎ [ˈduːdi]), was an Egyptian film producer and the son of billionaire Mohamed El Fayed. He was the romantic partner of Diana, Princess of Wales, when they both died in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

Dodi Fayed
عماد الدين محمد عبد المنعم الفايد
Born
Emad El-Din Mohamed Abdel Mena'em Fayed

(1955-04-15)15 April 1955
Alexandria, Egypt
Died31 August 1997(1997-08-31) (aged 42)
Paris, France
Cause of deathTraffic collison
Resting placeFayed Estate, Oxted, England
Alma materCollège Saint Marc
Institut Le Rosey
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
OccupationFilm producer
Known forRomantic relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales
Spouse(s)
Suzanne Gregard
​
(
m. 1986; div. 1987)
Parent(s)Mohamed El-Fayed
Samira Khashoggi
RelativesSee Fayed family

Early life and career

Fayed was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and was the eldest son of the Egyptian billionaire Mohamed El Fayed, former owner of Harrods department store. He was the half-brother of Omar, Camilla, Karim and Jasmine Fayed. Dodi's father was also the former owner of Fulham Football Club and the Hôtel Ritz Paris.[1] Dodi's mother was the Saudi Arabian author Samira Khashoggi;[2] her father was Dr Muhammad Khashoggi, who was of Turkish descent, and brother to the billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi.[2][3]

Fayed was a student at Collège Saint Marc before attending the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland.[4][5] He also briefly attended Sandhurst.[1] After completing his education, he served as an attaché at the United Arab Emirates Embassy in London.[5] Fayed was the first cousin of the late Washington Post Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in Turkey in 2018.[6]

Fayed was the executive producer of the films Chariots of Fire, Breaking Glass, F/X, F/X2, Hook, and The Scarlet Letter. He also served as the executive creative consultant for the F/X: The Series television series. Fayed also worked for his father on Harrods' marketing.[7]

Personal life

In 1986, Fayed married model Suzanne Gregard, but the couple divorced after only eight months of marriage.[7]

In July 1997, Fayed became romantically involved with Diana, Princess of Wales. Earlier that summer, Fayed had become engaged to an American model, Kelly Fisher, and had bought a house in Malibu, California, for himself and Fisher with money from his father.[8][9] Fisher subsequently claimed Fayed had jilted her for Diana and announced that she was filing a breach of contract suit against him, claiming that he had "led her emotionally all the way up to the altar and abandoned her when they were almost there. He threw her love away in a callous way with no regard for her whatsoever".[10] She dropped the lawsuit shortly after Fayed's death.[11]

Death
Innocent Victims, one of two memorials in Harrods.

In the early hours of 31 August 1997, Diana and Fayed died in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma underpass, in Paris. They had stopped in Paris en route to London, after having spent nine days together on holiday in the French and Italian Rivieras aboard his family's yacht, the Jonikal. Neither Fayed nor Diana was wearing a seat belt.[12]

Investigations by French and British police concluded that their chauffeur, Henri Paul, was driving under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs; paparazzi chasing the couple are also believed to have contributed to the accident.[13][14] Fayed's father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, has claimed that the couple "were executed by MI6 agents."[15] Fayed's former spokesman, Michael Cole, has claimed that the couple had become engaged before their deaths.[16]

Fayed was originally interred in Brookwood Cemetery near Woking, Surrey, but was disinterred and re-interred on the grounds of the Fayed estate in Oxted, Surrey in October 1997.[17]

Legacy
Memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed in Harrods.

Fayed's father erected two memorials to his son and Diana at Harrods. The first, unveiled on 12 April 1998, consists of photos of the two behind a pyramid-shaped display that holds a wine glass still smudged with lipstick from Diana's last dinner, as well as a ring Fayed purchased the day before they died.[18] The second, unveiled in 2005 and titled Innocent Victims, is a 3-metre (10') high bronze statue of the two dancing on a beach, beneath the wings of an albatross.[19]

The memorials were designed by 80-year-old Bill Mitchell, a close friend of Dodi's father and architect for Harrods for more than 40 years.[20] In January 2018, it was announced that the statue would be returned to the Al-Fayed family.[21]

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See also

References
  1. Peretti, Jacques (11 January 2009). "Death of a playboy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. Bradford, Sarah (2007), Diana, Penguin, ISBN 978-0141906737, Fayed had risen from his lowly beginnings through his connection with the Kashoggi family, Saudis of far mixed Arab and Turkish descent, who owned their position to their connection with the rulers of Saudi Arabia. In 1954 he had married Samira, the sixteen-year-old sister of Adnan Kashoggi, his contemporary, son of the head of the family Dr Mohamed Kashoggi. Their son, Emad, always known as 'Dodi', had been born in 1955...
  3. Hubbard, Kim (25 August 1997). "Howdy, Dodi!". People. 48 (8). Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  4. "Dodi Fayed: Biography". biography.com.
  5. "Fayed saw himself as an Onassis". augusta.com. 4 September 1997.
  6. Heimbrod, Camille (20 October 2018). "Princess Diana's 'Secret' Connection To Missing Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi Revealed". International Business Times.
  7. "Obituary: Dodi Fayed". Independent.co.uk, 1 September 1997.
  8. Dominick Dunne (19 May 2010). "Two Ladies, Two Yachts, and a Billionaire". Vanity Fair. New York. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  9. "Diana's Darling Dodi letters are read". Associated Press. 14 December 2007. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2013. (HighBeam Research subscription required)
  10. "Model claims Fayed jilted her for Diana". The Independent. 15 August 1997.
  11. "Kelly Fisher Drops Lawsuit Against Dodi". Associated Press. 1 September 1997.
  12. Read, Carly. "Diana shock claim: Princess would be alive if she had worn seatbelt - pathologist". Daily Express. Express Newspapers. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  13. Paul Webster and Stuart Millar "Diana verdict sparks Fayed appeal", The Guardian, 4 September 1999
  14. Rayner, Gordon (7 April 2008). "Diana jury blames paparazzi and Henri Paul for her 'unlawful killing'". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  15. Mohamed al-Fayed: The outsider Archived 21 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine The Independent, 6 October 2007
  16. Diana and Dodi 'were engaged' BBC
  17. Moyes, Jojo (16 October 1997). "Dodi Fayed's remains re-buried in secret". The Independent. independent.co.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  18. "Jeweler: Diana, Dodi picked engagement ring – CNN". Archived from the original on 19 February 2008.
  19. Harrods unveils Diana, Dodi statue, CNN, 1 September 2005.
  20. Princes lead Diana remembrance BBC
  21. Johnston, Chris (13 January 2018). "'Tacky' statue of Diana and Dodi Fayed to be removed from Harrods". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
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